This trial started November 24, 2003 and is ongoing.

March 11, 2004
by
dll

9:06am - Song, Jeff and Veronica talking in a "chair huddle" (everyones chairs moved close together).  Roger getting some video presentation ready.  There is some man on the big screen which when I wrote my diary I thought was on video, but he was live in Toronto.  James standing at a podium situated between AR's table and the jury box.  One other "spectator" sitting in galley near the prosecutors.

9:08am - Marc walks in and waves at me.  He's so friendly!  Someone who was helping with the video set up now sitting with the aforementioned spectator.  

9:09am - AR and SB brought in.  AR has hair brushed back instead of forward.  Looks good.  SB checks his wrists after the handcuffs come off, like they were extra tight today or something.  He has a new haircut as well.  Looks really clean-cut, I like it.  He's wearing dark gray pants and light gray shirt.  AR in navy jacket with maroon sweater.

9:12am - Judge comes in.  He informs everyone of the substitute clerk who is here due to the other lady-clerk's illness.  The lady-clerk is subbing for Bob who is on vacation or something.  Judge says everyone needs to inform sub-clerk in advance what they need so he can find the items.  (The clerk is in charge of evidence and doles it out on demand)  

9:15am - Judge sipping his juice as attorneys discuss questions they are going to ask this witness.  Now talking to witness via remote.  His name is Tahir Rafay and he is Tariq's younger brother.  There is a camera pointed at the podium, James is standing on camera talking to Mr. Rafay about two different statements that are typed up and in front of him (in front of Dr. Rafay that is).  He tells him to number one "Number One" and number the other one "Number Two" for communications sake.

9:22am - Two spectators, a man and a woman, come in and sit in the journalist section.  James clarifying with Mr. Rafay, before the jury comes in, if anyone left a note for AR and SB at the Bellevue Motel on the Thursday after the murders.  He says no, no one was able to find AR until Friday right before the funeral.  Now Jeff is asking how he knows this.  He says the family was all together discussing how to find AR.

James now asking Mr. Rafay during what time period AR said something about that Basma should be put in an institution.  Mr. Rafay says some time before AR attended Cornell University.  Said once they did put Basma in an institution but she was very unhappy there so they brought her home.

James now explaining court stuff to Mr. Rafay.  About objections.  If someone objects then he can't answer the question until the judge tells him he can.  Also talking specifically about "hearsay objections."  Says that since the Basma conversation is something Sultana or Tariq told him about, and it's not something he heard directly from AR, that cannot be asked or answered in front of the jury.  Now talking about an essay AR wrote about "tolerance."  Mr. Rafay said he heard about it from AR's parents, that AR won and essay contest and was very smart.  James says that is all hearsay so they can't ask that either.

9:35am - James still going over things with Mr. Rafay sans-jury.  Courtroom very quiet except some hammer-sounding banging going on upstairs.  James now talking about a discussion between Mr. Rafay and detective Thompson about SB & AR possibly being gay.  James says that is not something anyone is going to bring up because it has no bearing on the trial.  Roger is wearing headphones through all this.  Mr. Rafay is difficult to hear so I'm assuming he is listening to him on the headphones.

The video is delayed slightly and the audio doesn't sync-up well.  The video jumps around and the answers from Mr. Rafay are delayed.

Veronica now switches places with James and asks some questions of Mr. Rafay.  She says the memorial service in Canada is not going to be brought up.  Also cannot say AR had a lawyer at any time in front of the jury.  

Judge Mertel now switches places with Veronica and introduces himself to Mr. Rafay.  I get the feeling the judge digs this high-tech stuff.  The judge talks REALLY loudly though, like there is no microphone and his voice has to carry all the way to Canada.  I wonder if I'm the only one who finds this amusing.  He tells Mr. Rafay some basics about how the court is run and what will happen once the jury files in.

10am - Jury enters.  Judge tells jury that they are interrupting the testimony of someone named Schwartz to take the testimony of Tariq's brother.

James starts his direct.  James asking Mr. Rafay to tell the jury why he is testifying via remote instead of in person.  He says he has been ill and cannot travel at this time.  James asks about some background on his family.  Four brothers and four sisters.  Tariq was the oldest.  Tahir is the fourth child.  He is a retired microbiologist.  Tariq had a PhD in structural engineering from Waterloo.  Sultana had a masters in nutrition. 

10:10am - About 50 high-school students file in the courtroom.

10:25am - James asks Mr. Rafay if AR told him why he didn't go the funeral.  Mr. Rafay says AR told him he didn't feel comfortable.  James asks if AR mentioned the police.  Veronica objects.  Judge over-rules.  James asks again.  Mr. Rafay says AR says he was "advised" not to go to the funeral.  James calls a sidebar.  Judge Mertel obliges.  Everyone comes back.  James asks Mr. Rafay if AR know about the funeral.  Mr. Rafay says yes.  He says AR said the police were "mistreating" him and SB so he didn't want to go the funeral.  This whole conversation between AR and Mr. Rafay supposedly took place on the phone Friday night, with AR calling Mr. Rafay's hotel in Seattle.

James asks Mr. Rafay about meeting with AR anytime after the funeral.  He did the Sunday after the funeral in Canada, near the US board.  AR told him he was "advised" not to reenter the US, so Mr. Rafay drove up there.  They met a relatives house.  AR brought SB and "someone else" Mr. Rafay cannot identify.  Said SB was at AR's side the whole time, but the other person was in the car.  

Mr. Rafay said most of the conversation centered on AR and what his future held.  Mr. Rafay said he invited AR to come stay with him, but AR said he was staying with SB at his house.  They talked a bit about him returning to Cornell in the Fall.

James asked Mr. Rafay if he ever talked to AR between the time his family was murdered and the time that he was arrested.  Mr. Rafay says yes.  He called AR sometimes and sometimes AR called him.  Mainly talked about what AR was doing in his life.  Talked about AR making some kind of movie.  Mr. Rafay thought AR might be writing some screenplay since he was such a good writer.

11:00am - Break called.

11:14am - AR and SB brought back in.

11:19am - James resumes questioning of Tahir Rafay.  Asking about his religion, Islam, and their prayer rituals.  Asking about the five times of day one is supposed to pray.  Focusing on the last one the most, the one that is done two hours after sunset.  Says if the sun sets later in the day in the summer, is the prayer still done two hours after sunset?  Yes.

Now asking about a prayer mat.  What it is, what it is used for.  He says it is sometimes made out of a "velvety material" and is long enough for someone to kneel on it and extend their arms out in front of them.

Now James is showing Mr. Rafay something that looks similar to what he was describing and asks him if this is a prayer mat?  He says no.  It is too small and it has handles at each end, a prayer mat doesn't have that.  Also because it is folded in the middle.  James says it was folded in order to store it.  Now asking if he thought Sultana would be wearing flip-flops during prayer?  No, you never wear shoes while praying.

11:27am - James ends his questioning.  

Jeff starts his cross-examination of Mr. Rafay. He asks if Mr. Rafay was worried about where AR was July 14th. He says yes. Jeff asks, "You testified that as soon as you found where AR was staying, on the 15th, you rushed right over there?" Yes. Says even though you talked to the BPD on the 14th, you still didn't know where AR was until the 15th. Yes. Jeff asks were there TV cameras at the funeral? Yes. You, personally, didn't tell AR that the funeral was the 15th, because you didn't talk to him until after the funeral, correct? Yes, but as far as he knew AR knew the funeral was going to happen. "In our religion burial has to happen as soon as possible, so if it wasn't on the 14th then it was going to be soon…" so he should have known. Jeff says, but no one in your family told him about the funeral. "No." It was after the funeral was on TV that you talked to AR about the funeral. Yes.

11:37am - AR handing Veronica a note and she reads it and hands it back to AR and they whisper for a minute. Jeff asking Mr. Rafay if Dr. Rafay might skip the last prayer at night if he is especially tired. Yes. Jeff asking that a report from Gomes be entered into evidence. The report has Mr. Rafay stating AR was "sobbing" as he left the house of the mutual relatives where they met on Sunday, July 17th. During his testimony Mr. Rafay has stated that AR was "emotionless and quiet" during that meeting, but the report, Jeff asks, would be a more accurate memory of the event, right? Yes.

11:42am - Jeff done. Veronica starts her questioning. After you were told about the murder wasn't it true that you were panicking and didn't know what to do, and you couldn't even answer your phone? Yes. And you couldn't even make your own travel arrangements, your brother's secretary in NJ had to do it for you. Yes. And you were an adult at the time? Yes. And when you got to Seattle you were lost and didn't know what to do. Yes. And it wasn't until Friday morning that YOU yourself knew of the funerals? Yes.

Veronica is making the point that if the family didn't know when the funeral was going to be held, how could AR. They left early Friday morning back to Canada.

At this point Mr. Rafay's cell phone goes off and he panics. Reaching into his jacket pocket and messing with it, unable to turn it off, he throws it on the floor. The funny part is that we couldn't even hear it while it was IN his jacket. He should have just left it alone. The courtroom is way amused.

Veronica is now asking Mr. Rafay about Dr. Rafay discovering that all the mosques in North America were built facing the wrong direction. Instead of dead east, they should have been facing north east. Dr. Rafay published a scientific paper on this. Veronica asks him if his brother was a member of ISNA? Not sure. Asks about the murder of someone named Riasat Ali Khan. Asks Mr. Rafay if he knows anything about it? He says no. Asking now about prayer time two hours after sunset. He says some people think it's two hours, some think it's an hour-and-a-half. Says isn't it true if you miss certain prayers you can make up for them later? Yes. Now asking if he was aware of a necklace Dr. Rafay wore. No.

12:17pm - Veronica finished with Mr. Rafay. James starts his re-direct. Asks if during the Sunday meeting with AR, after the murders, did AR cry? No.

12:18pm - James says no further questions. None from the defense teams either. Mr. Rafay is dismissed as a witness. Lunch called. 1:45 return time.

1:55pm - All counsel present. Defendants also present. James is telling some hysterical prosecution tales. Says there are five factors of murder - drugs, booze, guns, porn and dog shit. Says that for the first five years of being a prosecutor every crime scene he went to had dog shit on the outside and 50% had dog shit on the inside. Roger kids that that's why James was sent to those particular crimes.

2pm - 2:40pm - Some "jury housekeeping" issues.

2:40pm - Roger starts direct of an inspector Schwartz. He was one of the support team for the two Canadian undercover cops. He helped in the setting up of scenarios they used on SB and AR.

Start talking about third scenario (this witness was on yesterday apparently, we didn't have coverage). April 27th, 1995, they bugged the SB/AR/JM home. May 6th, had SB meet them at a hotel. They were hoping SB would drive and they could bug his car, but AR dropped him off. Says there was a woman cop that was part of the scenario, a "floozy" type. Guns were to be introduced into this scenario. Schwartz says guns are set up so they don't "go off accidentally." Says there are only two ways to own a gun legally in Canada - one is if you are a collector, the other is if you use it for target shooting. They don't mention if hunting is considered target shooting. I was assuming one of the ways was going to be "to hunt with." They also set up the scenario with a red corvette and a quarter of a million dollars in cash. They rented the car. Got the cash from a bank. At 5:30pm SB arrives at the hotel.

3:15pm - Roger continues with Schwartz. He was in the "monitor room" which was right next to the scenario room. Once SB was at the hotel they drove him another hotel. He stayed there until 10:30pm and then they sent him home in a cab. When he got home the police were hoping he'd discuss everything with AR and JM, but they all went out to dinner and therefore they couldn't eavesdrop on that particular conversation.

3:27pm - Northshore News ran an article about sting operations in the Vancouver area similar to what the RMCP was doing to SB and AR. Roger asks Schwartz if he knew if SB and AR knew about the article. He says yes, they actually heard them reading it allowed (as their house was bugged) live. Schwartz said the SB/AR project was named "Project Estate" (goofy). Roger asks what was Schwartz' reaction to hearing SB/AR read the article? "I thought we were dead in the water."

Next contact with SB/AR was May 30th, 8pm. One of the undercover cops calls SB. Roger asks Schwartz if his worries diminished after that? Yes. Why? Because of "continued contact" with SB/AR.

Next scenario - 2nd week of June on Vancouver Island. Schwartz was testifying at another trial and was not an integral part of this particular scenario.

On June 1st they had installed a listening device into SB/AR's car while they were at the movies. They "stole" the car, installed the device, then police "found" it 100 miles away. This was SOP for the RMCP. They were allowed to break windows, steal car stereos and personal items from cars while installing listening devices, in order to make it look more "real." Although, Schwartz says, they didn't do any of that to SB/AR's car, and they are no longer allowed to do that sort of thing without special permission.

Were SB/AR suspicious of the car theft? Schwartz - "yes, they were immediately suspicious." Did you get anything productive from your installation? No.

Next Roger has Schwartz explain something called "smurfing." It's depositing money into bank accounts under the "legal declarable limit" of $10K.

June 20th - both undercover cops went to SB and AR's house. The underlying intent was to meet AR and bring him into the fray.

June 28th scenario on Vancouver Island again. Point was to get them away from their home and to force the scenario to last as long as the cops wanted it to. SB and JM were involved in this scenario, not AR.

July 31st - SB and AR arrested together at their home. JM arrested elsewhere.

4:04pm - Break for the week. Back March 22nd.